No, not on this auction.Originally Posted by tippy4
No, not on this auction.
I absolutely hate this crap. I wish I had more time to do something meaningful to stop this. Maybe in 2016.... Anyway, here are the e-mail conversations we had:
johnny007:
On 11/12/15 -- Dear mott72us,
You're trying to sell books with forged signatures and passing them off as having been signed by Stephen King. That is fraud and fraud is a felony. Please pull your ads and save yourself a big hassle.
Response on 12/12/15:
you have nothing else to do? i get my books from auctions and books sales. so if you care to comment again i will not read it, just delete it, have a nice day and Marry Christmas.
- mott72us
johnny007:
On 22/12/15 Dear mott72us,
Marry Christmas??? You, and your aliases, will soon be ferretted out. Your little tricks will not be enough for a fraud charge to stick. I wish you were an honest person selling real SK signatures instead of the crap we see now. Mott, karma is a bitch, you know? And I hope you feel that very soon!
Response on 23/12/15:
I buy my books at actions and book sales thu out the mud west and thought they were real. I will have pay more to have them checked out if run across any more.
If anyone sees an SK auction with a forged signature coming from mott72us or pearwhite (I think that's another alias), please let me know. I'd like another chance to make him stop AND for eBay to get its head out of its ass. Thanks!
John
johnny007,
Believe me when I say I hear you and sympathize with you, but it's better that everyone get over the idea that "eBay" gives a flying fuck about this kind of thing. As long as they are collecting their desired fees they cannot care less. I am certain they have a building full of lawyers that have them indemnified up the proverbial wazoo, regardless of what they may "officially" say. The idea that "ebay" will actually take any action is just silly and will drive you crazy in the end. All we can do is trust one another, identify the fakers, share the info and move on IMHO
Seriously, out of the hundreds of fake sigs we all have seen I bet you can count on one hand the amount of times that ebay has actually done something corrective.
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
Bill,
I don't want eBay to do a damn thing. They are complicit in a fraudulent transaction. I want the cheats prosecuted and pay. Every forgery sold diminishes our collections, hobby, investment, etc. It keeps potential SK collectors away from becoming serious collectors (or readers of SK work) and that's a shame. And these fucks are committing a crime... I don't ask for any help to try and get rid of this scourge but I'm going to give it a shot. And, once in a while, I'll report back -- the good, the bad or indifferent!
And thanks again for the tip about uploading images here. I can't see anything but apparently everyone else can and that's the most important thing! Have a Happy (HEALTHY) New Year!
John
John, I've discovered that some browsers do not show pictures as many others do. I use Firefox and have not have had a problem.
John
Thanks, John. I'll give it a try and let you know if I find success.
John
Ralph, Room 217 Caretaker has been involved in a few cases of forgery investigation and prosecution. He's on vacation right now, but I'm sure he'll chime in when he can.
There are a lot of problems in prosecuting either civil or criminal cases against these guys.
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. I only play one on internet forums.I am however a contractor and understand the law. State laws vary.
Criminal law:
- Forgery requires proof that the accused actually forged the document. That is non-existent.
- Passing forged instruments requires proof that the person knew they were selling a forged document. Unfortunately, that is also non-existent. After all (s)he bought them at "auctions and books sales."
- Fraud would seem to apply. Again though there is that argument of "auctions and books sales." Without intent there is no provable crime.
Passing off the same bad signature repeatedly might be enough to prove passing forged instruments or fraud if the prosecutor is willing.
Civil law:
Suffice to say that there are multiple problems in prosecuting such a case. If the damages are great enough though it might be worth it.
- Fraud (redux) is actionable. I won't post the defenses.
Federal law:
There are interstate commerce laws or postal fraud laws that can be enforced if there is adequate evidence of a crime.
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
Oh, dear god
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201494134891
Yep, that looks like it was signed by someone's cock all right...
In fact, if you compare the signature to the forgery from Pearwate's previous Bazaar of Bad Dreams listing, it looks identical, and therefore signed with the same cock!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Bazaar-of-Bad-Dreams-SIGNED-Stories-by-Stephen-King-2015-Hardcover
I think Pearwate is using yet another account on eBay, because it definitely looks like he is using his knob to sign both books...
NOT signed by King. Interesting that it is numbered:
Stephen King Insomnia - Signed Limited Edition with slip case - #551 of 1250
Unbelievable that this is already at $250! CRAP!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321959192585
"God punishes us for what we cannot imagine." - Stephen King, Duma Key
There are currently five bidders on this piece of ****. The current high bidder has a feedback of four. Obviously he/she doesn't know what they're doing.
John
IMHO I think the seller posted the wrong picture since he listed the books number & the buyer got a good deal.
That would be good for the buyer, but the limitation # is on the page (hard to confirm what number), and there is no King signature.IMHO I think the seller posted the wrong picture since he listed the books number & the buyer got a good deal.
Unless some pictures have been removed from the bid site. There were no pictures of any limitation page posted from the book that was sold. The gift edition 3,750 pictured has no limitation page at all. So are you assuming that the book sold was not signed just going only by the picture & not by the description?
Seller knew the limitation # & I think the only way they would know that was that they had the SIGNED book in hand.
The original auction had 2 pictures. I'm "assuming" the picture in the auction listing showed a S/L limitation page that was missing Stephen King's signature (I assume because there is no King signature). Unless someone here wins the auction and lets us know, we might never find out what was actually shipped to the winner.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stephen-King...p2047675.l2557
I see a limitations page in the second picture. It has two signatures but is missing Kings. The number appears to match the listing. I saw this and couldn't figure it out either.
Wow, it sold for $356.51. Someone got hosed!There are currently five bidders on this piece of ****. The current high bidder has a feedback of four. Obviously he/she doesn't know what they're doing.
John
"God punishes us for what we cannot imagine." - Stephen King, Duma Key
Doubly bad - the poor "winner" came in at the last minute with the high bad.Wow, it sold for $356.51. Someone got hosed!There are currently five bidders on this piece of ****. The current high bidder has a feedback of four. Obviously he/she doesn't know what they're doing.
John
I stand corrected the auction site I saw had no 2nd picture of the limitations page & you are right Kings signature is missing.
It should look like this
Now the question is Was the photo of the book the actual book sold... a gift edition with a signed limitation page (a 1 of a kind artists edition)?
Hey, I'm with you on this. It's just that I don't see how you are going to have any real impact. Especially, without the help of ebay in some way. Having said that I wish you nothing but the best of luck and success. Otherwise, as I said our best defense is the folks on this site. IMHO Best of luck to you and I'll always be available to assist in anyway!!!Bill,
I don't want eBay to do a damn thing. They are complicit in a fraudulent transaction. I want the cheats prosecuted and pay. Every forgery sold diminishes our collections, hobby, investment, etc. It keeps potential SK collectors away from becoming serious collectors (or readers of SK work) and that's a shame. And these fucks are committing a crime... I don't ask for any help to try and get rid of this scourge but I'm going to give it a shot. And, once in a while, I'll report back -- the good, the bad or indifferent!
And thanks again for the tip about uploading images here. I can't see anything but apparently everyone else can and that's the most important thing! Have a Happy (HEALTHY) New Year!
John
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
Right - the best defense is being an educated buyer - ultimately anybody with a clue can do research before spending stupid money on bad autographs.
It's easy to blame Ebay - but I'm not sure I want them picking and choosing what auctions to cancel or not....because then they'll inevitably let bad auctions through, but cancel a few good ones...so it's better to have them be a platform and let adults make their own decisions.
OTOH, it would be nice if King's office stepped in for the worst examples.
I reported this and am reporting auctions even after the fact. If you choose the "counterfeit" drop down options then you can leave a short typed description. 100% FAKE Signature is what I start with each time. Now I guess it's 99.9% fake b/c you never know, but if you don't put 100% then Ebay isn't going to even look at it. Have to be 100% in saying 100%. See the power of the full 100%? haha!Doubly bad - the poor "winner" came in at the last minute with the high bad.Wow, it sold for $356.51. Someone got hosed!There are currently five bidders on this piece of ****. The current high bidder has a feedback of four. Obviously he/she doesn't know what they're doing.
John
I did this a few times years ago...it's a pain, not sure it's worthwhile, but worth doing. Plus, if nothing else, you feel like it might accomplish something! So I'd keep plugging away.I reported this and am reporting auctions even after the fact. If you choose the "counterfeit" drop down options then you can leave a short typed description. 100% FAKE Signature is what I start with each time. Now I guess it's 99.9% fake b/c you never know, but if you don't put 100% then Ebay isn't going to even look at it. Have to be 100% in saying 100%. See the power of the full 100%? haha!
This any good?
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